Bobby Ray Memorial’s Math and Science Night was an evening of hands-on science activities designed for students and their parents to work together.
Math and Science Night activities are meant to be hands-on, engaging activities for students and their families to work as a team. It gives the student the opportunity to share their knowledge on the subjects to their families and the opportunity to have fun together.
The activities are hands-on and focus on the idea to link science and math to the real world. Six centers were available for guests to build objects from toothpicks and marshmallows, construct boats from aluminum foil, and then see how many pennies it took to sink the boat, and participate in many math/science thinking games.
“The children could practice addition, subtraction, multiplication in different ways, and could practice odd and even numbers as well as mental math practices at the centers,” said second-grade teacher Lynette Kesey. “It was a fun night for everyone present.”
One of the more popular activities was presented by Larry Flatt and Dalton Pack from Motlow State Community College. Their robot display allowed students to have a race stacking blocks while using robots powered by water-filled syringes.
McMinnville Electric Service representatives brought their Power Town display and discussed electricity with the group, explaining safety rules concerning electricity. One activity showed the power of static electricity, while another shared the many types of equipment used by their employees.
While holding a cluster of wires, Ben Lomand Connect representative Jeff Carter explained how telephone circuits work and how modern technology has affected them.
“We have this event as a way to get kids excited about math and science and STEM type activities,” said Kesey.
“They may see or learn something here that encourages them to go into a field that is geared towards math or science in the future.”
Counting money and understanding place value was presented by Security Federal Savings Bank employees. They created a fun way of rolling dice and adding or subtracting the numbers shown, and guessing how much money was displayed in a jar. Each activity garnered a prize for the child.
Several interesting door prizes were given away, including passes for bowling or skating and the grand prize being a visit to Cumberland Caverns. A food center featuring pizza, drinks, chips and cookies were available for guests.
“We appreciate all the hard work from our staff, and for the many community volunteers participating in our night,” said Kesey. “Events like this are a way to get the children’s brains really thinking and trying to figure things out on their own.”
